


Lost in The Ghost Zone

by Phantomgirl17



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Explicit Language, Gen, Mild Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-06 11:23:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15885060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phantomgirl17/pseuds/Phantomgirl17
Summary: Wishing to be anywhere but at home in her crap-like apartment, Valerie finds herself thrown into the Ghost Zone. Unable to find her way out, she runs into the town's no good "superhero" Danny Phantom. Will she accept his help in order to get home?





	1. Lost at School

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I'm finally done! This took forever to edit and to think of an ending to, but I got my story done. So as promised, a story with chapters! Right now I'm working on a few crossovers with "Danny Phantom" but I'm always looking for requests, feedback, comments, and ideas if you would care to see something else happen to any of the "Danny Phantom" characters, and as always, I own nothing! I'll be posting a chapter each Monday, most likely after school. I'm only posting early today because I don't have classes. Enjoy!

Valerie looked at the clock. It was still going to be several hours until her dad got home. She sighed and walked to her desk in their small apartment. Ever since her dad had been fired because of that stupid ghost boy, Danny Phantom, their home had barely been big enough for the two of them. She was almost glad she had never known her mother all that much before she disappeared, but still wondered how it would be to have a normal family. Even if it was in such a small place.

As she walked over to her desk, she found that there was a note from her dad. She read it over and over again not believing what it said.

“Valerie, I went out to get food for us and ended up running into a ghost. He is holding me captive in trade for you. I think he wants you because of your ghost hunting. The ghost forced me to write this for your attention. I'll be alright, you just stay safe. -Dad”

She looked at the note one more time before growling at the wall. She ended up shredding the note and screaming her lungs out in her fit of anger. She was going to get her dad back, but she didn't know how. There were no clues of what ghost had her father captive, or where to even start looking. If she was still in her old home, she would be able to afford the technology and labs to look for her dad.

But she didn’t have any of that. The ghost boy took that from her thanks to his stupid dog. She screamed again. Without any of that equipment, she was going to have to start trying to find him on her own. It was Tuesday, so she had to be at school the next day. She could start research before bed and go searching after school. Valerie had her plan in place.

She wanted her dad back as soon as possible, so after she had made it back to her room, her laptop was open browsing her files from her ghost hunting and some old news articles about specific ghosts. She narrowed down her options fairly quickly. Her dad had said that the ghost holding him captive was male. That meant there was still a large variety but got rid of any females she could think of. She only remembered a few male ghosts off the top of her head so she ended up looking through some research that she still had the files for.

She found information on a ghost named Technus, who seemed to like controlling objects more than people, The Box Ghost, who didn't do much other than try and hit people with cardboard boxes, Prince Aragon, who seemed reasonable and could make himself a dragon to destroy or torture people and places. And a ghost by the name of Skulker, who she had met before when she got kidnapped herself. She shivered at that memory.

Valerie woke up in the middle of the nowhere. She didn't have the faintest idea where she was and knew nothing except that she was chained to her worst nightmare - the ghost boy. All that ran through her head was that she was never going to get away from him alive. Everything that was happening was most likely his fault. She cringed as she sat up and heard an evil laugh, much too deep to be from her nemesis. Valerie wanted to cry and felt tears stinging her eyes as a large ghost in a silver and green suit walked into her view. He seemed to have been hiding in the shadows where he wasn't visible. Her lungs let loose and she let out a blood-curdling scream that caused the ghost boy to cringe. Finally, she started flinging questions everywhere, and only got sarcastic answers from that jerk of a ghost kid. Her heart skipped a beat as he yelled at her, and she almost broke down right there. She knew she was going to be killed by that hunting guy in silver.

Her memory sparked her ideas, and she decided to hunt the hunter. Skulker must have her dad, and she was going to get him back after school the next day. Until then, she needed rest and more ideas of what’s up with Skulker wanting her as a prize. Valerie found she was shaking in fear and decided to try and get some sleep. There would be little energy tomorrow to help find her dad if she didn’t sleep now. She silently whispered a small message to her dad and hoped that he could hear her, wherever he was…

The night was hard on Valerie. She only felt herself tossing and turning, and little sleep came. No relaxing music would help, no sound effects, no counting sheep, and no fresh air came to her rescue. She was hot, then cold, and couldn’t hold still. Her body was jiggly and she bit down on her tongue to keep from crying until she had bit it so hard she tasted the coppery flavor of blood resting in her mouth. She let her feet hit the freezing cold floor as she walked to the bathroom and washed her mouth out with water to try and remove the rancid flavor.

“At least that taste in my mouth got to rest…” she muttered to herself.

On her way back to her bed, she tried to think about something happy, something that would relax her mind enough to fall asleep. She thought about when she was younger. When ghosts weren't a problem for her or her family. She remembered being popular and having actual friends, and when she was able to hang out with them and not do such low-life activities after school hours. Her thoughts only let her lay in bed upset and even more afraid of the day to come. Not only would she have to save her father, she would have to put up with all of the jerks at school.

Valerie looked at the clock beside her bed and saw that it was only 3:14 AM and sighed. This was going to be the longest night in a long time. She sat and stared at the stains on the ceiling and the tears in the wallpaper. Her mind drifted to having her get up and forcing her eyes to look at the dripping faucet in the kitchen and the creaking ceiling fan over the “dining room” if you could even call it that. She walked back to her room and sat on her bed, turning the light on next to her bed. Pulling a book and a pen out, she began writing to herself.

“I promised I would get Daddy and me out of this stupid place…”

She growled as she wrote and by the time she was done, she had written almost 27 pages and was clutching her sore, throbbing, cramped, and aching hand. Her writing had gotten sloppy and quick as thoughts had flooded her mind of how to eliminate all ghosts forever and get recognition for it, which would get her out of her stupid house now. This was the worst house on earth in her opinion, and she was going to find a way to get what was left of her family out of it before she moved to college.

She looked at the clock again. 5:47 AM. Just a few more hours until school started. She pulled herself up off the bed and walked slowly to the bathroom, listening to the floors creak as she walked over them barefooted. Water began pouring from the faucet in the sink as she prepared to brush her teeth, but rust-tinted it to a brick reddish-brown rather than clear, and Valerie pulled away from it, deciding to use a water bottle instead. She sighed as she rinsed her mouth and then got ready to shower before school.

She turned the water on in the shower and saw that it was at least clear, but it was soft water and she never really felt like all the soap had been rinsed off her body. She pulled her shirt off and removed her pants. She made sure the door was closed and locked, even though she was the only one there, and then removed her undergarments once she was reassured that nobody could see her. Valerie stepped into the shower and felt her teeth chattering. The water was freezing cold. She cursed silently at it while also thanking it for being cold. While making her freeze, it woke her up vividly and her mind raced once again.

Her body told her to get out of the water when her fingers began turning blue from how cold it was. She stepped onto a torn rug to keep from falling and pulled her clothes onto her body before even thinking to look at her hair. She had no way to dry her hair quickly, so a new towel was grabbed from the closet and she sat drying her hair for half an hour before trying to brush it out. Yanking away at her hair angrily, she thought about the ghost who had her father in his grasp. She didn't even know if her dad was still alive, but she was going to get revenge on the ghost that had him. It had to be Skulker.

Valerie was on her way to school as a truck drove by the sidewalk and splashed her with mud. She felt a growl rise in her throat and wanted to cry out in anger as kids walked past her laughing. Dash pushed her away from the popular kids again and she was forced to sit with that weird Fenton kid like always. He and his friends were getting much more secretive and she hated that. She had avoided talking to them because of how weird they were, but now she didn't talk to them because they were pushing her away from them like Dash had. She went to her locker and pulled a clean outfit out, changing in the girls’ room before sitting by herself in all her classes, the whole school laughing at her.

Her anger rose again as the teachers wouldn't leave her alone. She gained a detention for being late to class and gave off an angry glare as she realized that it would delay her hunt for her father even longer than just the school day. She almost wished she could turn invisible and run away to find him without anyone noticing.

Lunch finally arrived and she spent the time sitting in the library trying to find more information on the ghost that she thought was holding her dad captive until she arrived. Her search proved very effective. Not only did she now know what the ghost acted like, but she knew how to find him. He collected rare and unusual beings, whether they be dead or alive. All she needed to do was put herself up for sale and he would hunt her, capture her, and she could rescue her father from his ghostly wrath. She almost thought to laugh at her situation. Almost. Not all kids had this kind of experience in their life. Being broke and living in the worst, most broken down apartment in history while also being a huge ghost huntress.

She walked away from the computer after clearing her history and waited out the rest of lunch in the cafeteria at a table by herself. She looked over to see Danny and his friends looking at her funny. They almost looked sorry for her. Valerie gave them a questioning look, and they quickly looked away acting like nothing had ever happened. Maybe they were just trying to be nice and not give her pity, but Valerie didn’t know. She shook her head to clear that thought and went back to worrying about her adventures for after school.

The bell rang for the next period to start and scared her out of her thoughts. Valerie ran to her math class as fast as she could, but was still a few minutes late, getting snickers from the rest of the class and a glare from the teacher. She hung her head and traveled to her seat in the back of the room, quietly sitting herself down in the beat-up chair and destroyed desk she was assigned to. The rest of the class watched as she slowly trudged to her place, and Valerie heard a few of the more popular kids laughing a bit as she passed them. She felt her face turning bright red as she walked, this was so embarrassing.

The class dragged on, and Valerie didn’t give one bit of her attention to it. Math was not her favorite class, nor was she more concerned about her grades than about her dad. She sighed and doodled in her notebook. Every single one of her drawings was her defeating a ghost, no matter what ghost it was. But the ghost she drew herself defeating the most was the town’s “superhero”, Danny Phantom. That guy had been a pain in her butt for a long time, and she couldn’t seem to get rid of him. She quickly flipped to the back of her notes and told herself that after finding her dad and defeating Skulker, she was going to finally finish off Danny Phantom, once and for all.

Valerie looked up quickly as she heard the bell ring at her to say that it was time for chemistry. The last class of the day, and of course, she had no lab partner, meaning she had to actually pay attention while doing the labs. Hopefully, today was just a review day of the lab they had done before. Valerie once again raced to class, thankfully on time for this one. But her hopes had been crushed, today was a lab day. She grabbed her goggles and lab coat and tried to rush through her experiment so she could sit and think some more. But that was a very bad idea on her account.

In attempting to rush through the experiment, Valerie found herself with goo all over her papers from a small chemical explosion since she had mixed the wrong two chemicals after not reading what to do. Even Danny and his friends were laughing at her as the teacher had to go help her clean up the mess that had been made, and they generally didn't laugh at people and were pretty understanding.

Valerie turned a bright red again, a red so bright it was noticeable even on her darker skin. The popular kids all teased her about messing up, and she was banned from the rest of the lab, which made her a bit happier. She could sit and think now while everyone else had class. Her brain began to wander as she stared at the clock. How long had her dad been in captivity? Why did that stupid ghost want her of all people? What was she going to do to make him notice that she was out and ready to be hunted? What was she going to eat for dinner?

She shook her head as she tried to clear the annoying side thoughts to her mission. All she needed to do was figure out how to attract the ghost’s attention, and then she would have the rest of the answers later. All she needed, was a plan.

Valerie tried to create some very… creative ideas for what to do. She started with just walking out in broad daylight and screaming that she wanted to be taken by a ghost, but that seemed stupid. She wouldn't have her gear with her to save herself, let alone herself and her dad. So she tried another thought; what if she went searching for him? Then she would have her gear and the upper hand advantage since he wouldn't be expecting her. But she had no idea where to start looking. Even if he did have his own island in that freaky ghost world that he called home, she was not going back into that realm. She sighed and determined that she needed something in between those two plans. Maybe all Valerie needed was to declare that she was out looking for him, and he would try to find her to have the upper hand. She found this to be a genius idea.

“You never fail to let me down, brain.”

She chuckled to herself quietly so nobody could hear her as she thought out loud. Valerie’s eyes shot to the clock as she saw other lab groups beginning to clean up their lab tables and put away the gear from their experiments of the day. Ten minutes of school left before she could run home and grab her gear. Butterflies entered her stomach and she once again had the coppery taste of blood flood her senses. Her fingers were shaking, and she dropped all of her books while trying to pack up her things before the bell rang.

As the high pitched bell gave her the cue to leave, she began madly dashing down the hallways to get to her locker before anyone could stop her, but wasn't fast enough. She ran face first into the vice-principal, Lancer.

“And just where do you think you’re going, Miss Grey? You still have 2 hours of detention to serve today after school.”

“But my dad is in trouble! If I don't go save him, then…”

“I don’t care. I don't know what your saying about your dad being in trouble means nowadays, you're not getting out of detention.”

“But Mr. Lancer, it's not some saying. My dad really is in trouble and I need to go save him!”

“And I still do not care. I'm not having another insane, tale that you made up about how you have something more important to do. You did the crime, you're going to pay the time. And I would watch it with the excuses around here if I were you. You're starting to sound like Mr. Fenton.”

Valerie started to open her mouth in response but closed it as Lancer escorted her to her detention classroom.

“Great, now I'm stuck in detention, have to wait even longer to save my dad, aaand I'm starting to sound like Fenton…”

She shifted in her seat so that she could rest her head on her hand, and began writing her plan down to make sure she had it perfect. She would be flying around, “hunting” ghosts while trying to look out for the one that was hunting her, and when he found her, she would make him take her to her dad. Then, she would destroy that horrid ghost that was holding him captive, and free herself and her father. It seemed to Valerie that her plan would be foolproof.

“YES!”

She cried out loudly and jumped up from her chair suddenly at her feeling of success and looked over at everyone who was staring back at her.

“Miss Grey, there is no talking in detention. Please, sit back down and be quiet.”

“Yes, ma’am. Sorry to make such a large disturbance.”

She sat back down in her chair and felt blood rush to her face. Other kids snickered and she made herself look menacing to shut them up as fast as she could. After they stopped laughing she looked around and saw that it was all people that she knew, and had been friends with before she hit rock bottom, or had known as the unpopular kids when she was popular. She saw Dash and Kwan - not surprising - Paulina and Star were doing each other’s makeup, and Danny was sitting by himself mumbling words she couldn’t understand. Most of them looked like they had to do with ghosts, but seeing as his parents were professional ghost hunters, she didn’t think much of it.

Being by herself and lonely, and wanting to know if there was anything else she didn’t already know about Skulker, she decided it was time to go talk to him in a real conversation for once.

“So, Davey, was it?”

He shuffled to quickly put away the books he had been using and the notebook he had been writing in while shutting his mouth as quickly as humanly possible. Valerie gave off a questioning look, and he scowled up at her in an annoyed fashion.

“It's Danny. What do you want, Valerie? I'm busy.”

“I hear your parents hunt ghosts. Got anything you care to tell me about one that floats around as a hunter in a large metal suit that's silver and green, with all the latest ghost technology?”

She heard him give off a small gasp.

“Skulker. His name is Skulker, you creep. Do your own research. I’m not sure I care why you want to know about him, but figure him out on your own. You gonna leave me alone now?”

He sounded mad. Valerie decided to push it and make him talk.

“Fenton, I know that you're lying to me. Tell me about Skulker. NOW.”

She smiled as he rolled his eyes at her. She knew more about him than he did about her. Nobody in the school knew that she was a ghost hunter.

“I don't care about your little ghost hunting expedition. It's not my problem and I've got bigger problems to worry about than your anger issues right now, so just go away.”

He set his head in his hand and starting thumbing his notebooks that he had closed when she walked up to him, being careful to keep it so that she couldn't see what was inside of it.

Valerie was shocked he knew that she was hunting ghosts. But then she remembered another memory that gave her ideas as to how Danny knew she was a ghost hunter now. Chasing after that stupid ghost boy and his dog that ruined her life, she ran into Danny and Sam in the bushes while the two of them were making out. She had said quite a bit, so he might have recognized her voice. And Tucker had figured out she was hunting ghosts since he fell on top of her in the gym, so maybe Tucker had told Danny and Sam about it and now Danny knew. Then again… his parents were ghost hunters, so maybe he just knew a ghost hunter when he saw one.

“Fenton, I know your parents, if not your whole family - including you, hunt ghosts. Just tell me what I want to know, and I’ll consider leaving you alone. I’ve done my research already.”

He gave off a grunt of amusement before retorting back to her in a rude fashion that didn’t sound like Danny usually had in the years she had known him in middle school as the unpopular boy. He seemed to have changed a lot since then. Everybody had known Danny as a calm, and generally pretty nice kid, but now he was acting like a jerk. He must have been either really mad or was trying to fit in with the rest of the world and their constant anger.

“If that’s so, then you should already know what you need to know. Try putting what’s left of your brain into use, you little bitch. I said that I wanted to be left alone, so go the fuck away.”

She tried to decide what to say to the now snarky Danny when the teacher looked up and told them it was time to go home, they had served their detention. She dashed for the door, not caring how her conversation with that Danny kid had gone. He didn't matter anyway, she wasn't going to get any answers out of him now that she knew he knew her little secret and that he was in a bad mood. Not to mention that she could probably beat him up better than Dash and Kwan always did. But that didn’t matter at the time. It didn't even matter that she thought he was an asshole himself. She had to find her dad.

She ran to her locker, having the other kids stare at her in a funny way, she began breathing quickly as she dashed down the hallways, turning a corner so fast she nearly hit the wall. Her locker was right around the corner, and she felt sweat pouring down her face. The salt of it stung her eyes and left a rancid taste in her mouth, making her want to spit it out on the floor. She found her belongs quickly and started to sprint away to get her ghost hunting equipment from her apartment. The school was a ways away from her apartment and she was breathing heavily and letting sweat pour down the back of her neck as she slammed the door open.

Her gear was in her closet like always, and she put it on, piece by piece. Her suit was first, then filling the ectogun with ammunition and making sure her laser blasters were charged. She made sure her hoverboard was functional and then grabbed her ghost catching equipment to trap the ghost. She picked up her grenades and threw the windows open to fly out of them on her hoverboard to try “hunting” for ghosts.

As she flew out the window at full speed, she felt the pressure change from in her small apartment to the wide, outside world. She took a breath of air and then screamed at the top of her lungs,

“I'M READY FOR YOU TO COME AND GET ME YOU EVIL GHOST! GIVE ME MY FATHER BACK BEFORE I DESTROY YOU!”

She turned around after hearing a loud burst of ghost energy behind her. A ghost had appeared right behind her. Her eyes scanned the ghost. She had seen him before but didn't know him by name. His hair was a deep midnight black with a gray stripe, and it looked like two horns atop his head. Fangs glistened in the sunlight from his menacing smile. His outfit was mainly white with small black and red accents and a cape that was red on the inner side. It differed greatly from the color of his skin, which was a sickly greenish blue. She looked at him again and saw his collar was rising against his neck while his arms were crossed and he floated behind her.

“Who are you?”

“I would be asking you the same question, my dear girl. But I already know who you are. I am Plasmius, your new worst nightmare. You want your father back? Fine, I’ll give you your father back.”

She screamed as he held out a hand and blasted her to the ground with a ghost ray.

“You will see your father again very soon, my dear.”

Valerie heard an evil laugh from the new ghost as she blacked out from not only hitting the ground so hard, and from a smaller, more precise ghost ray meant not to hurt her but just to knock her out. Her vision swam between blackness and consciousness as time passed, and she didn't know how long she was dreaming of being in a real family again.

Valerie awoke to a new place. It was a dark lab that she was unable to recognize when she slowly opened her eyes just enough that she was squinting. It was definitely not the lab her father worked for and held many strange, glowing test tubes in the colors of green, blue, purple, pink, and red, and she was unable to use even that to know exactly where she was. Her mind swam from her unconsciousness and she felt like she was about to be sick. There was a sickening smell drifting up to her nose, and she finally decided to open her eyes to see if she could locate the source. As she slowly opened her eyes, she felt her stomach lurch and her head spun. She quickly closed them, still feeling like she was spinning. When the dizziness and nausea wore off with her eyes closed, she began opening them again. Yet again, she felt she would be sick, but she pushed through the feeling to try and see more of where she was and where the smell was coming from.

Looking around the room, she located the cause of the smell. Her dad was laying on the floor in a cage across the room, either unconscious or asleep, but at least still breathing. He smelled horrible, and it was like the scent of a large mix of chemicals drifted off him and to her nose. There were bottles and tubes laying on their sides, rolling around him, and it seemed that he had purposefully been knocked out with them. Valerie couldn’t tell where she was or who had done this to them, or even what had been used on her father or when he would wake up, but she was going to get to the bottom of it.

Valerie tried to pull herself from the wall she was leaning against but found herself bound to the wall by the wrists and unable to break the chains holding her in place. Valerie screamed in frustration and gave off big breaths. Finally, she wanted answers.

“Somebody tell me what’s going on here!”

She called out her question, hoping to get answers and to wake up her dad, but he didn't move. She saw a shadow move, and the ghost that had called himself Plasmius appeared from the dark shadows, almost like Skulker had done so long ago. Lights flickered on, and Valerie squinted in the light until her eyes adjusted. Her father hadn't moved.

“You want answers, child? I shall give you answers.”

The ghost floated around her dad and continued talking.

“Just tell me what it is you wish to know. The answers may not be what you’re hoping for, but they are going to be answers nonetheless.”

“Why did you take my father? Why do you want me?”

“I took your father as a bait for you. It brought you to me, did it not?”

The evil ghost laughed and Valerie remembered the note her father had written. The ghost had wanted her for her ghost hunting if she remembered correctly. Plasmius continued,

“I wanted you for your ghost hunting. You see, you have failed me, child. I am Vlad, my dear. I supply your ghost hunting weapons in order for me to gain information on the ghost boy you fight with the most. You have been fighting ghosts for months now, and yet have given me nothing I did not already know. Nothing I can use to make a perfect clone of him to give me a son. You are to be given punishment.”

“But I was never told to get information on him. You can't punish me for not doing something I didn't know I needed to do!”

Tears fell from her eyes, and Valerie looked over towards her father. Plasmius grinned in an evil manner.

“Ah, family love. I will let you see your father for what is most likely going to be the last time. The effects from the chemicals will not be permanent, but I doubt you will be seeing him again after he wakes up.”

Valerie felt the chains around her wrists fall away, and she crawled over to her father as fast as she could. She gently shook him to try and wake him up but had no success.

“Daddy? Daddy! Daddy, wake up! Oh please wake up!”

Valerie felt tears hit her hands and saw them fall on her dad’s torn and tattered shirt. She heard slow footsteps coming towards her, and she attached a small set of drones to her father in various positions to get him away from that lab safely and set the coordinates to his bed in the small apartment she hated, yet called home. Plasmius tried to grab her dad again and missed, and after failing, grabbed her arm as she let go of her father with an angry growl.

She screamed as she was lifted off of her knees, and the ghost growled angrily at her,

“You have failed me, girl, and now you have overstayed your “welcome”. Now you're going to have to leave, and since you hate your home and I know you have been wishing not to live there anymore, I'm going to give you a new place to live.”

He lifted her up higher as she struggled to try and break free, and he pulled a lever on the wall, opening a doorway that she hadn’t seen before. It revealed an octagonal doorway that was then filled in with swirling green light that didn't seem to stop moving. It glowed and gave off an eerie feeling. Valerie felt her eyes widen as he laughed.

“Welcome home, Miss Valerie Grey. Good luck getting out of this trouble.”

He laughed in an insane fashion as he walked closer to the glowing green swirls, still holding her just above his head with only one arm. Valerie decided that it was time to scream as she felt him pulling back and then launching her into the portal. Valerie felt herself flipping head over heels repeatedly as he threw her into what he called her new home. She continued to scream her lungs out as she tried to make herself stop, but found herself struggling with the lack of gravity wherever she was. Everything passed by her too quickly for her to see where she was until she ran into a floating boulder that knocked the wind from her lungs and crushed her diaphragm. She looked behind her and saw the silhouette of Plasmius disappear as he closed and locked the doors to the portal she had been thrown through with an evil laugh. Looking around she saw green swirls and strange beings lurking around her. Doors littered the sky and ground and there was a way for her to float, and a way to stand steadily on the boulder. She screamed even more as she finally realized where she was.

Valerie was lost in the Ghost Zone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Yay! Another chapter! I'm really proud to finally have a work with chapters up. Sorry, I'm late, but it is still Monday, so I'm on time. Feel free to comment, like, or give ideas or requests. Read away!

She couldn’t help it anymore. Valerie screamed both in terror and frustration. She was trapped in some bizarro spirit realm and had no idea as to where she was or how to get home to see her dad. The only thing keeping her from going mad was knowing that she had gotten him home safely. But that didn’t explain why she had been sent here for failing a task she didn't know she was supposed to do and because she hated where she lived, it just didn’t seem fair to her.

Valerie rushed back to the door of the portal she had been flung through and began pounding on them with all her strength, all of her weapons, and all of her energy. But nothing opened the doors. Slowly, she floated back to the rock she had been standing on before, and sat herself down gently, making sure it was a stable place to sit and wouldn’t contaminate her with ghostly beings.

As she sat down, Valerie watched tons of ghosts float by her, not paying any mind to the fact that there was a human in their world. She assumed that it was just like how human never really noticed or cared about the ghosts floating around the town until one of the ghosts attacked them. Unless they were a ghost hunter, like Valerie or the part of the Fenton family that did hunt ghosts, who couldn’t catch a ghost if it was living under their own roof.

Sighing and wondering how she was going to get home brought Valerie to polishing her hoverboard and thinking as hard as any normal person her age could do. She knew that her dad had made it home safely, and the drones had sent her video of him being laid down in his bed after flying him home, so one worry was taken off of Valerie’s chest. But the rest were not gotten rid of. How was she going to get home? What if she never made it home like that Plasmius guy had said? What would happen if a ghost attacked her and she ran out of charge on her ectoblasters? She didn’t know how long she had been sitting on the platform in the Ghost Zone when she felt a small tap on her back.

Valerie jumped up screaming at the top of her lungs, seeing a green blob sit itself down behind her. It was the ghost dog that had ruined her life. She looked at it with a disgusted look on her face and saw it look up at her innocently, it’s head cocked at her, ears up, hoping to be loved. She thought about kicking it for a minute, but when it gave off a sad puppy look and nudged her leg, she decided to just bend down and pet it.

The ghost dog barked happily, and Valerie almost thought to smile as she was petting the dog. She had always wanted to get a dog, but now that she was broke and her apartment didn’t allow pets, there was no chance of it. She stood back up and the dog barked at her again.

“Shoo.”

The green puppy looked up at her with a confused look on his face.

“Go on, get outta here. Before I destroy you like you destroyed my life.”

The dog whimpered softly and then flew off into one of the floating purple doors that was open. She watched sadly as the dog left. She was hopelessly lost. There was no chance of her getting out of this place, whether she wanted to or not, and there was certainly no way of her being able to defeat all these ghosts she saw floating by. On her left, she saw one on a motorcycle with a girlfriend, one carrying boxes from an old warehouse, one trying to steal technology from another ghost, the hunter she had met before, one with flaming blue hair, and a pair of fighting dragons. Valerie looked to her right seeing a ghost trying to make friends, a white furry monster in a frozen realm, a black wolf in a green hoodie, and a jail with what appeared to be the one running it floating in that general area.

Valerie almost broke down into tears looking at what she was up against. There was no way for her to find where she was, and she was not going to talk to any ghosts and ask for directions by choice. They were evil and probably wouldn’t help her anyway. They probably wanted her dead in their world, eternally trapped and unable to leave when she became a ghost as well.

She watched as the ghosts all talked with each other and laughed, and she decided it was time to get herself moving in some direction, she didn’t care what direction, but some direction to see if she could make it home to see her dad. It was almost like she had seen this place before, but saw that she was in the middle of nowhere, Skulker's island was nowhere in sight, but the ghost himself was not too far away.

Valerie climbed on her hoverboard and flew in one direction, away from the ghosts as fast as she possibly could. Getting into a mess with them would be bad news for both her and the ghost she ran into. Quickly, she picked up speed, and threw her arms out, smiling and pulling her mask off to let the breeze from her speed give her a hint of pleasure compared to what she had been feeling inside while she was lost.

Sooner rather than later, Valerie ran into a strange looking door. Rather than being purple like the others, it was an eerie shade of green and had a strange glow to it. It was like it was begging Valerie to open it, and upon reflex, she reached towards it. Her hand was only about an inch from the doorknob that shone in a shimmering silver when she saw what she was doing. Pulling one of her blasters off the back of her suit, she blasted the door inwards instead of touching it. She figured it would be much safer than touching the possibly contaminated door.

Valerie cried out in shock at what was behind the door as the smoke cleared from her shot. She was looking at the mouth of a giant beast-like ghost that was filled with row after row of teeth the same way as a shark's mouth was filled. When the mysterious new ghost had their mouth open, it was larger than Valerie, and she screamed as she mentally smacked herself for destroying the door rather than just opening it, now she had no way to close the door and run away. In her fear, she hadn't noticed that the beast looked angry - she had interrupted it, and it had been doing something.

Glowing red eyes and a loud roar followed as Valerie flew away on her hoverboard as fast as she could manage to fly without running face first into anything. The whole area around her was a blur, and she felt the heat from the ghost's breath behind her as it roared at her yet again. Valerie couldn't think to do anything but scream as she flew on, finally making a quick turn and losing him in a large forest. She looked around a tree and then saw him shrug and go floating towards his door, whistling in a happy manner. She floated a bit closer and saw from very far away that he was rebuilding his door.

Valerie sighed in relief and then strained her eyes in the dark of the forest, trying to see if she knew where she was. Unable to see anything, she turned the light on that was at the top of her suit. Quietly she looked around until she spotted the edge of the deep green forest coming into view. Valerie lost her want of secrecy and raced towards the light, if it could even be called that, blinking rapidly as her eyes adjusted gradually to the new amounts of light flooding her body. Valerie smiled as she gained sight again, and turned herself around to see if she knew this place any more than she knew the other parts of the unusual reality she was in.

Her smile dropped in less than an instant. Valerie knew exactly where she was. Screaming was heard from all around the Ghost Zone as Valerie saw that she was standing on the very outskirts of Skulker's Island. Faster than light, she was on her hoverboard once again and pushed her foot to the board to accelerate. The wind on her face didn't feel quite as good this time as she sped to a different rock that was floating randomly. She once again checked it for ghosts before sitting herself on the edge of it and lying her hoverboard down next to her. She huffed in frustration.

"I'm never gonna make it out of here."

Valerie continuously mumbled to herself, over and over, cursing the name she had only just learned not long before.

Plasmius.

Unsure of how long she had been floating around, she heard her stomach growling at her. Valerie grabbed a small protein bar from the miniature bag on her hoverboard and wolfed it down, food never being so good to her before. She looked herself over and saw that her hair was a mess and her face was covered in small cuts from the forest she had flown through that she had sworn she would never visit again. It brought back horrid memories and almost made her wish that she hadn't seen where she was. She looked to the island, floating as a speck in a very distant area of the Ghost Zone. She shivered at the sight of it and turned her head and tried to push the thoughts of it out of her mind when it was no longer in her sight.

'How long have I been here?'

She had begun thinking of things other than that terrifying island in the distance as she pulled out a water bottle and gulped half of it down in just a few large mouthfuls. After sitting with nothing going on in her brain Valerie began to get sick of having nothing to think about, so that brought her to thinking about her dad, even if it did make her nervous and even more afraid than she already felt from sitting where she was.

'Was he finally awake? Did he know where she was, while she knew where he was? Was it possible that she had been here for days and he was looking for her? What if he had gotten recaptured? Did that Plasmius guy recapture him just for the fun of it since he was very obviously evil? What if he thought that she was dead?'

Valerie smirked at her thoughts as she came up with an answer to her last question.

"I'm living in a world meant specifically for ghosts right now, I may as well be dead."

Valerie had meant to talk to herself, but heard somebody laugh at her comment.

"Who's there? What do you want?"

"AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA! Oh man, now that's good humor!"

The voice Valerie heard seemed to echo around her, and the sound of it made her want to be sick.

"Grrrr..." She began growling to herself. "I'd know that voice anywhere..."

Valerie trailed off as she saw the ghost boy of the town become visible not too far from her, wiping tears from his acid green eyes as he laughed at what she had said about basically being dead. His face was almost turning green as his blood ran to his upper body from his sudden outburst of laughter.

"How long have you been listening to me?"

Valerie called out to the pasty-faced ghost kid, and he made an odd gesture of looking around to see if there was anybody else in the same area as the two before he started pointing to himself and asking,

"Who? Me?"

Valerie slowly nodded her head, trying to put on the meanest face she could, thinking it would get her more answers. Unfortunately, it only seemed to make things worse. She almost leaped off the rock she was sitting on to attack the ghost kid in a fist fight at his response after he thought things over, making faces to fake that he was thinking about what he was going to say. She knew he'd had his answer before he even asked if he's who Valerie was talking to.

"HA! Wouldn't the little bitch like to know?"

"I'll give you one last chance before I pull out my ectogun. You're going to give me an answer, punk. How long have you been following me?"

Valerie hadn't noticed the slight growl coming from her throat as she spoke. Danny Phantom sighed as he answered her.

"Fine, I've been following you around for about six days."

"Six days?!"

Valerie heard her voice rise in shock as she repeated his answer. She saw him trying to hold back a laugh as he had his lips pressed tightly together and was trying to hold back the sound from his obvious laugh. Finally, the ghost boy couldn't hold himself back anymore and he flipped himself upside down as he roared in laughter. More tears fell from his eyes, and they floated away as he wiped his face. Valerie stood with a glare on her face while waiting for him to quit laughing. He almost stopped and Valerie started to open her mouth in sarcasm like she always did around people who acted like this.

"Are you done yet?"

He pondered the thought for a moment, his hair standing on end as he pulled his hand to his face, still being upside down.

"No. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

He wiped a few more tears away from his eyes with his gloves before sighing to Valerie.

"Okay, now I'm done."

Valerie looked at him questioningly and he gave her a small smirk in return. She thought of what she was going to say back to him in a rude manner like he had done to her, who did he think he was? Calling her a bitch? Valerie thought she had come up with the perfect response to his rude comment and started to say it, but then thought better of it and had what she was more curious about come spilling out of her mouth.

"Has it really been six days?"

Her voice quavered with her nerves and she felt her body shaking. Her dad was probably worried sick about her now.

"Pfft. No. You're so gullible. It's only been a couple of hours, dumbass."

"What did you say to me?"

"That you're a bitch and a dumbass? I must not have been wrong since you didn't seem to understand what I said."

He smirked as he looked down at his fingertips on his left hand, pretending to rub the fingernails that were trapped behind his white glove and black suit.

"You call me that again and I will destroy you."

"You can try, but you'll fail. You haven't caught me once in the several times we've fought. Try again later, bitch."

Valerie growled at him as she started to pull out a few weapons to destroy him with, but heard a slight laugh and "Ah ah ah..." come from the ghost boy as he silently shot all of her weapons away from her with quick, short bursts of ectoplasmic energy.

"What was that for?!"

She heard herself getting mad and felt the blood rushing to her face in her frustration faster than it had at school.

"Ohhh... The little baby's getting cranky. Hey asshole, get this. I didn't want to be destroyed, so I prevented it."

He snickered at her.

"You shoulda seen the look on your face as I blasted your stuff with my ghost rays. Classic."

Valerie scowled at the ghost she saw in front of her. It had been a few hours of him following her, and yet he hadn't said a thing, now this stupid ghost had been talking to her for no more than ten minutes and he was already being more of a jerk than she thought he was. Valerie found that at the time, she wanted to waste him more than she usually did.

"Why are you even talking to me?"

The ghost boy gave off a weird half smile and then rolled his eyes.

"I'm the good guy, remember? I thought maybe you needed help getting home."

Valerie snorted to his response as he claimed that he wasn't evil. From what she had seen him do, he was. Not only did he and his stupid dog ruin her life, but he had taken the mayor as a hostage, helped other ghosts to rob banks and steal from museums, brought evil ghosts back to Amity Park with him, blasted her until she was knocked out and floating in outer space, and helped other ghosts that he claimed weren't evil, but very obviously were. She had a gut feeling that she had seen him in while she was still in that secret lab that Plasmius had somewhere in the real world that she cherished and missed.

"You're as far from good as any other ghost, you piece of ecto-scum."

"Oh, then I guess that the several times I've saved your butt I was evil?"

Valerie pulled her hand to her face this time while she thought over what he had said. He had saved her several times, like when she was falling, or when another ghost tried to attack her... but that didn't make him a good ghost. Valerie continued to maul things over in her head, there was no such thing as a good ghost. Yet, there were always those news reports of him being a hero in her town. Had another ghost been messing with him to make him look bad? Maybe he really was a good guy...? No. That wouldn't be possible. All ghosts were very clearly evil, and nothing would change that. The bad he had done outweighed the good, and Valerie huffed as she saw him yawn. He was clearly getting bored watching her think.

"You've done more evil than good."

Valerie spit out the only response she could think of on the spot while he flipped himself back over from being upside down.

"Hey, that's your opinion. I prefer that of the rest of your town, but I can't force you to change your mind. I was just gonna offer you some fucking help getting back since you looked lost is all. Jeez... you really are a bitch."

His eyes rolled as Valerie once again felt a gravely feeling of a growl rising in her chest and throat.

"I don't need your help."

"Whatever you say, Val. If you don't need my help, why should I give a shit? Catch ya on the flip side!"

He turned and started to leave, and as much as she hated it, Valerie regretted what she had said to him. She reached out a hand while biting her bottom lip out of nerves.

"Wait."

The ghost boy turned himself around and gave her a questioning look.

"Don't go. Please, don't go."

He floated in place with his hands on his hips, his expression making it look like he wanted an answer as to why she was stopping him after saying that she didn't need him. One of his eyebrows was cocked and he had a funny twist to his mouth in his questioning look. Valerie sighed. She knew she would end up hating herself for this.

"I... I do need your help."

She stuttered her answer and the ghost boy smiled at her in a calm fashion.

"That's better, isn't it?"

He floated over to her still speaking in a dull tone, almost like he was trying to tease her.

"Finally admitting to your weakness. Damn, you took forever. I thought I would get to you sooner."

Valerie looked to her feet in embarrassment as she knew what she had just done. Not only did she hate having to get help from other people, she especially hated having to ask this stupid ghost boy of all people. Not only did she hate him for being a ghost, she hated it when people swore, and he seemed to do that a lot around her, and only her. It's like he knew what got on her nerves. Then Valerie looked up. She saw the ghost boy holding out his hand.

"What are you doing?"

"Helping you. I'm the good ghost, remember? You want out of here or not?"

Valerie once again rolled her eyes at the ghost boy as he snickered at her blushing. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. She picked up all of her stuff that he had blasted away from her, and finally pulled herself off of the rock she had been sitting on, and onto her hoverboard, slowly lifting herself into the air to follow the ghost boy.

"So what brings you to the Ghost Zone today, Valerie?"

She gave a questioning side glance to the ghost boy as they flew in the direction of Plasmius's portal.

"How do you know my name?"

"What? Oh, right. You're Valerie. You can't expect me to fight someone and not know their name, can you? I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Danny. Danny Phantom."

Valerie thought to laugh as he gave off a couple raises of his eyebrows and a dorky hero smile. She gave him an answer to what he had said to her while trying to hold back a laugh and a small smile of her own.

"That's fair."

He grinned sheepishly.

"I hope you don't mind if I make two stops on our way home? Errr... On our way to YOUR home?"

She glanced to him, seeing him looking forward, acting like he hadn't called her town his home too. Maybe it's where he lived while he was still alive. Maybe she would ask about that later in their journey. All she did was nod her head to signal that it was alright for them to stop a few times.

"Good. I've got two really important things I need to do, first stop. My arch enemy’s house."

Valerie saw the portal to Vlad's appear in the distance and she grimaced slightly at the sight of it. It had become like Skulker's island. She felt fear haunt her as she grew closer to it, and she saw Danny give her a questioning look without words. Valerie found her throat tight and only squeezed out a few words to answer his question.

"He's who threw me in here."

Phantom slowly nodded as he thought over what to say to her. She saw him actually having emotions.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know that he's what got you into this mess. We can skip this one if you'd like?"

Slowly, Valerie nodded yes to his question.

"I'd prefer that, thanks."

She only whispered the thanks, wanting to smack herself for being nice to him, but he seemed to be pretty nice to her right now. Why would he do that? Valerie felt herself fall into thoughts and silence between the two of them for what felt like forever until they were extremely far away from Plasmius and his portal. They had turned and were going in the opposite direction, which made Valerie both happy and uncomfortable. Finally, because it was driving her insane, she broke the silence that was lingering between the two of them.

"Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?"

She gained a shocked look from the ghost b... from Danny, and heard him whisper a bit of nonsense to himself before answering her.

"Valerie, I'm supposed to be the good guy. I'm only ever a jerk to you because you are to me. After you tried to destroy me those first few times, I thought there would be no getting through to you like the other humans that I had been in contact with. I gave up, learned what you hated, and used it against you. I'm only going to be aggressive to you as you are to me."

"Is that why you only swear around me?"

"Bitch, you know it."

He gave off a smile as she knew he was kidding.

"Val, I hate swearing too. I hope you know that. I never meant to do anything against you."

Valerie started to ask him about Amity Park and if it was where he was from but got cut off as he spoke first.

"Ah. Here we are. This is the only stop we're gonna be making, and it shouldn't take long."

He held his hand up to his mouth and whistled violently loud. Valerie shuddered at the noise of it. The next thing to happen didn't surprise her one bit. That little ghost dog came running up like crazy and pounced on the ghost kid, knocking him to the platform Valerie had been on earlier. They played there together while Danny pet the dog and gave him treats, and Valerie decided to ask another question that popped into her head.

"Who is that dog anyway?"

"This is Cujo. He's sort of a long story. But he's not my dog. I only watch over him in the ghost zone since he was a puppy is all."

Cujo gained a pat on the head from Danny, and Valerie almost wanted to pet him some more herself. She held herself back, and Phantom seemed to know why she didn't care so much about that dog in particular. She saw a sorry look glaze his eyes over, and didn't know what to say when he said something she wasn't expecting to hear once in her life.

"I'm sorry about what Cujo did. He just wanted his toy. I wish I could fix things for you."

Valerie saw the truth glistening in his eyes and she frowned to herself. The ghost dog that he owned had ruined everything she knew, how could she just forgive someone like that? She decided that this was getting too comfortable for her liking, and that it was time to turn on hard Valerie again. This time in the "Ghost Zone" as the ghost boy had called it, must have been making her break down.

"I don't care. You still messed up everything."

The anger in her voice shocked the ghost boy and he gave off a look of hurt from her angry comment. After telling Cujo that he had to leave, he hardened himself and replied to her.

"Back to being bitchy Val again? Fine. Be that way."

He didn't look back at her after motioning for her to follow him and get her home.

"I'll get you back home, but only because I saw you fall apart. Got it, you damn bitch?"

She cringed, no longer hearing the sweetly calming voice of the friendly ghost boy. He seemed to be treating her like she did him. She remembered when he asked if it was possible to just talk things out, and she had refused. Valerie felt her heart sink as she realized that it was all her fault the two of them were hateful towards each other.

"Thanks..."

She whispered her thanks to him again and he nodded ever so slightly that she could see it. He seemed extremely mad.

"Sure, whatever."

They flew on in silence for a long time. Valerie felt time passing by, and even though it wasn't really that long, she felt her heart pounding in her chest as she got nervous. Was she really being brought home? She looked ahead of her to see that the ghost boy had stopped in front of two, heavy, metal doors that were extremely similar to what had gotten her into the Ghost Zone. The ghost boy must have seen her tense up because he responded to the action.

"It's not Plasmius. This should take you to the Fenton Works lab. Ask them to get you the rest of the way home and to bandage those cuts from Skulker's Island. This is as far as I go. I don't feel like being treated as what I'm not anymore today, dumbass."

Before Valerie could ask how to open the portal's doors or thank him again, the ghost boy was gone, she could see him speeding away, taking his anger out on a long stretch of road that was floating around. She looked at herself and knew that she had made that happen, but then didn't think to care about that. He was a ghost, and she hated ghosts. All ghosts. At least, that's what she thought. She kept watching him and realized, she had never gotten to know a ghost. Maybe not all ghosts were evil. She thought back to what the ghost boy had said to her about only acting like she did to him. Her anger got the best of her, and everything she saw from her time with him was replaced with evil memories that tainted her to the point of never wanting to see him again.

Valerie hadn't realized how long she had been floating in front of the doors to the ghost portal thinking about what had happened. She didn't understand it, so she just decided to go back to thinking that the ghost who had helped her was evil, and made herself forget everything he had said today that wasn't snarky, rude, or mean. She grinned in an evil manner. Next time he came to town, he was gonna get his butt handed to him.

"Town!"

She began banging on the portal's doors to try and get them open, and finally, she heard grumbling from the other side of the portal and saw it beginning to open. The real world was in her grasp, and she flew into the lab slowly and carefully, as the doors were fully open. Valerie looked to see Danny Fenton looking at her.

"What were you doing in the Ghost Zone?"

"What are you doing in this lab?"

"I live here, so what are you doing in my house?"

They both gave off a questioning look to one another and Valerie blurted out a question that she didn't know she had wanted to ask Danny.

"Do you think the ghost boy is evil?"

"No. Why? Do you? He's done a ton of good things for this town. Don't you remember any of them?"

"Uhhhh..."

Valerie couldn't answer as she tried to push all of the goody-two-shoes nonsense out of her mind. That ghost kid was evil. She didn't think about thanking Fenton at all, she made a mad dash back to the outside world and smiled at the bright sunshine that was still out.

She raced back to her apartment on her hoverboard and looked in the window. She saw her dad laying on the floor, still knocked out. Valerie went rushing in to try and wake him up.

"Daddy? I'm home now. You can wake up now, Daddy."

Tears filled her eyes, blurring her vision so that she was unable to see the red stains on the carpet or tears in his shirt.

"I'm home now."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: And here it is! The final chapter to "Lost in the Ghost Zone"! This took forever and I was always super impatient with posting the next chapter. I just got done editing the final bits of this one, and it is waiting to be read! I'm going to be posting more works again soon, and if you want to see any other characters' perspective, or even more on Valerie, just let me know. I'm always looking for suggestions, requests, and ways to make my writing both better and more enjoyable to the readers! Enjoy the ending!

Valerie cried as she watched her dad lay on the right side of his bed, still breathing, yet not moving otherwise. She continued kneeling above him and attempting to try and wake him up in any way she could. Shaking his arm did nothing, moving him onto his other side did nothing, water being poured over his chest wouldn't wake him up, ice did nothing when she dropped it down his shirt, and she couldn't even get the loud noises she made to arouse her father in his deep sleep.

Valerie only cried more as her mind told her that it was her only option. Tears hit her dad's shirt, and he still did not budge to any degree. Whatever Plasmius had given him must have still been working, and it angered Valerie severely.

Screaming, Valerie ran to her room and collapsed on her own bed, still in tears from her dad's lack of wake. She began thinking of several things as she calmed down enough that the tears coming from her eyes began to cease their flow and lessen their frequency. 

What would she tell her father when he awoke? How would she explain herself to him, and why she was covered in bruises and cuts? What would he say when he found out that she had gotten depression? Why had Danny at school suddenly become such a jerk? Why did the ghost boy show weakness, only to then harden himself back up after a while of getting to know her? Would that be used against her?

Her mind was flooded with thoughts and Valerie couldn't get them to stop mocking her. She knew that she had shown her own weakness to the ghost boy while she was stuck in what he had referred to as "The Ghost Zone". She also knew that now he knew she was worried about her dad and knew where she was. He knew that she wanted out of this place and that she had no way to fix where she was. 

These thoughts brought not only more tears to her eyes but also fear of the ghost boy she despised so much. Now that he knew where she was from, where she lived, and what she cared about, he could sabotage her at any time and use all of the knowledge he had gained against her. And so could that stupid Plasmius guy. Maybe they worked together and the ghost boy that roamed the skies of Amity Park was working undercover for him. Valerie figured that she would never know.

"Why can't I know anything, but he can know everything?"

Her anger rose and she felt blood pooling itself in her face as she grew more and more upset with not only herself but with her weakness as well.

Strange noises drifted into her room, making Valerie jump and fall to the floor with a loud thud. She turned her head to see which direction it was coming from and heard it in her living room if it was even large enough to be considered a living room. Valerie jumped to her feet, grabbing an ectogun from her nightstand drawer before walking silently and slowly out of her room. She turned the corner of the hallway to see the living room, and her jaw fell open at what she saw. Rather than some normal robber - although why they would try and rob some run-down apartment like hers was beyond her - she saw a familiar white-haired teenager floating just above the ground.

"Uh... Hi?"

Valerie once again screamed her lungs out, questions invading her mind as she thought of how to respond to the strange looking ghost that had ruined her life. He was why she was in this crappy place, and now he was going to visit? He had known her name, but how did he know what she looked like? He had never seen her without her suit, unless... unless he was stalking her specifically and had followed her home after one of their fights, to find her location and to see her identity. Yet she didn't know anything like that about him if there even was anything to know.

"What are you doing in my house, punk?"

"I should be asking you why I shouldn't be, bitch."

Valerie growled as she heard him insult her once again. She knew that would be the last time he said something like that to her.

"You have no business here, ghost. Get out of my home!"

"You want your dad awake or not, dumbass?"

He pointed his thumb towards where her dad's room was, and she opened her mouth into a gasp not realizing that he had already figured out the layout of her whole apartment. She began growling once again and made sure her weapon was charged and ready for her to use it when he made his first move.

"You will go nowhere near him. You're gonna poison him more, I know it. You're working for that Plasmius guy. I can feel it in my gut."

The ghost boy began laughing to himself before he began making the ring of his laughter more vibrant and public. Valerie gave him a questioning look as he once again wiped the tears from his laughter away from his eyes.

"Oh man, have you ever got it backward!"

He continued laughing, gasping for breath as he floated onto his back, Valerie only capable of seeing the bottoms of his shoes as he kicked his feet up in the air.

"I don't work for Vla... for Plasmius. He's a total fruit loop. But ummm, hello... I said I was the good ghost, remember? Or are you that stupid? Ghost poisoning your dad, I am a ghost, I probably know more about it than you do and could probably wake him up, dumbass."

Valerie looked back towards her father. her heart softened for him, and only him, as she remembered how none of her tries had gotten her dad to wake up for her. She thought to herself in a more meaningful way, she felt that her answer to the ghost boy's question would be much more important this time around. He had mentioned that he was a good ghost, and she did see him fighting other ghosts a lot. Valerie gave him credit to be a jerk sometimes, and in return to the people who were jerks to him. She earned the insults. She had never really gotten to know him and assumed that he was evil the moment she saw that he was a ghost. Then again, he did ruin her life... But her dad's life was most likely on the line at the minute and she angrily narrowed her eyes to a scowl.

"See what you can do. Wake him up and I'll let you live... For now..."

Valerie bitterly followed the ghost boy as he floated to her dad's bedroom and softly landed his feet on the floor beside his bed. Valerie flipped on the lights as she trailed after him, unable to see as the room grew darker thanks to the sun going down outside the windows.

"What are you gonna do to him?"

"Nothin' much for right now, you little bitch. I'm just gonna see what I can find about what Plasmius used on him, and then see which cure I need to use. If there even is one. Sometimes the poison is just too strong for any cures I can concoct, ya know, asshole?"

He laughed at his own joke and then began scanning over the body lying in front of them. His eyes fluttered from top to bottom several times, watching his breathing, how often any part of his body spasmed, and how fast his chest throbbed from his heartbeat. Valerie then watched as Phantom took her dad's temperature, checked his blood pressure, and saw how limp his limbs were. She gave off another questioning glance to the ghost boy, who seemed to ignore her, his eyes focused on the task at hand.

"What are you doing?"

Valerie put some force behind her voice to try and get answers, but still, nothing came from the ghost boy standing before her. She didn't hear much beyond a few muttered comments, most likely meant for himself.

"Hmmm... no fever, completely out, and he's got a slow pulse and breathing rate. This seems like the stuff that Plasmius used on the clones..."

Valerie wondered what the ghost boy meant when he mentioned "the clones" but didn't think to say a word, as she expected little to no answer, and if he did give one, she knew it would be exceedingly rude towards her, so she kept her mouth shut as Phantom began to dig through a little side bag she hadn't noticed when he walked in.

"Where did that come from?"

"What? Oh, my medical supplies? I make them from ectoplasm and can conjure them at my own needs. Although, it seems that this time, it's more for his needs."

He motioned to Valerie's father and gave off a half smile, clearly proud of his work. Valerie had a feeling he didn't get to explain himself to many people very often, and that he especially didn't get to heal other people like this very often. She stood there with her mouth open, not responding until her mind came to and she saw a white glove running itself up and down in front of her vision.

"Hello... Earth to Valerie... You gonna wake up anytime soon or am I gonna have to help you too...?"

Quickly, Valerie shook her head not only to finish clearing her thoughts but also to let the ghost kid know that she was alright and wouldn't need any help, especially not from him.

"So how are you gonna fix my dad and get him to wake up?"

Valerie hadn't noticed that her voice had grown calmer and that she was being soft towards the ghost boy again, worried about her dad and hoping to see him awake as fast as possible. She had become nicer towards him, and in return, he had been less of a jerk, helping her out more and not giving off any insults. There was still some sarcasm from time to time though.

"Easy. I make a small mixture of my own that counteracts Plasmius's potion. It should have him awake in no more than an hour after I get his body to swallow it. If he doesn't drink it, then I will have to inject it, so it could take an extra half hour for it to take effect and wake him up."

Valerie slowly nodded as she soaked in what had been said to her. Her dad would be having more chemicals put into his body. If these were really as dangerous as she thought they were, they could kill her dad, and her exposure to them could possibly kill her. She shivered from the fear flooding her body as the ghost boy messed with some colorful beakers that had been pulled out from his bag. Yellow, green, purple, blue, orange, pink, red, and clear chemicals littered the table beside her father's bed and she watched as each one was accounted for before being picked up and swirled to make sure it was still good.

"This might take a while since this will be a more complicated concoction. You're welcome to stay and watch... or... even help if you want to."

He motioned to a small space beside him and gave off a small smile, cocking one eyebrow in a questioning manner. Valerie started walking to the spot he had motioned to, wanting to make sure that this "brew" would for sure help her dad but felt the cold that radiated off of the ghost boy and wandered back a few steps.

"I think I'll watch from back here. You do know you're freezing cold, right?"

She heard a laugh as the chemicals in front of the ghost boy were organized in rainbow order.

"Yeah, I know. Most people tell me that, and it is part of being a ghost. Not to mention I've got ice powers. Here."

His right hand got pulled up as he turned around to face Valerie. A small ice crystal formed in the palm of his hand, floating for a moment before falling into the palm of his hand. It looked like a diamond before it was cut and Valerie thought it was beautiful. She took it and watched as everything was reflected in the ice, yet it didn't melt, even with the body heat from her hands surrounding it.

"Thank you."

She only managed to breathe out those two words before smiling broadly at the ghost kid, who smiled back before returning to the chemicals on the table.

"Yeah, no problem."

Valerie felt her heart stop for a moment before skipping a beat. What she was about to say was against everything she stood for but she couldn't stop it from pouring out of her mouth in a mess of words.

"No, seriously. Thank you. For everything that you've done today. For helping me out of your ghost world, for giving me this crystal, for saving my dad, and for being nice to me - no matter how short the time period - even when I'm such a horrid person to you."

"Don't mention it. It's what heroes do, after all. I guess I should be apologizing too. I never meant to ruin your life or to make you think that all ghosts are evil. I'm good friends with some others who aren't. And, by the way, it's not really a ghost world. It's more of a zone, really."

Valerie found that she didn't know what to say next or how to respond to his apologies. He was supposed to be evil, he was supposed to be a jerk, yet here he was trying to save her dad without her asking him to.

"How long will it take to make that potion?"

"Probably about 15 minutes. I have to make sure I measure everything correctly."

Valerie gave off a slow nod, remembering chemistry from earlier that day. To think that it had only been a day since everything had happened brought rocks to her stomach and she ran out of the room feeling that she was going to be sick. From a very far distance, she watched as the ghost kid put the chemicals together, blending and swirling the colors around until a smile crossed his face and he held up a large beaker.

"It's done!"

He cried out to Valerie and motioned for her to come back in. Her nose crinkled at the smell of the chemicals in the room, and she saw the fluorescent shade of aquamarine glowing from within the beaker held out before her. She slowly turned to face her dad while whispering to herself.

"It's okay, Daddy. You'll be all better soon."

Valerie jumped at the sound of the ghost boy's voice as he asked her a small question.

"Would you like to try giving it to him?"

She turned back to the ghost boy, seeing him pour half of his concoction into a needle in case they couldn't get it down her father's throat and into his stomach. She shook her head no, afraid of what would happen when they tried to have him drink it.

"Okay then. Are you ready to see if this works?"

"Yeah. I think I am."

They smiled at one another before Phantom walked to the bedside that the older man was on, and lifted his head just enough that the mixture of chemicals would be pulled down to his stomach by gravity.

"Are you sure this will work?"

"No, but if you want your dad awake, we have to try something, right?"

Phantom sounded as nervous as Valerie felt as he began to pour the liquid into her dad's mouth. She saw that he couldn't get her dad to swallow it. That meant that the sharp needle that was already filled would have to be used and that half an hour would be added to his wake up time. Valerie turned away as tears filled her eyes. It meant an extra half hour of not knowing if the chemicals worked or not to wake him up.

She felt a cold hand on her shoulder and quickly wiped away her tears so that the ghost boy wouldn't see her crying. Her shoulders still shook violently as she tried to hold back tears and a loud scream of fear and anger.

"It's okay. The shot always works. I haven't had it fail yet."

He smiled at her, and in a state of weakness, she found herself hugging her arms around his torso. He awkwardly patted her on the head, slowly trying to break away and grab the small shot needle that was laying beside the other chemicals. She glanced at it before tears fell to the floor.

"Hey, um, Val? Do you mind letting go of me so I can help your dad? I sorta need my whole body for this."

Valerie felt herself in shock, and fell to the floor, hitting her butt against the carpet, as she realized she had just shown tears, a hug, and her weakness to her worst enemy.

"Sorry."

That was all she was able to mutter as she watched him walk towards her dad again. The ghost boy picked up the arm of his "patient" and looked for a good place to give the shot. Finally, he found a small spot on the outer side of his upper arm to inject the chemical combination that had been created.

As the chemicals were injected, the ghost boy frowned.

"I guess that's it then."

He had started packing up his materials, and Valerie watched as each time his filled one of his medical equipment bags, he made it vanish with his ecto-energy.

"I finished giving your dad his chemicals, he should be awake in no more than an hour and a half. I should probably go now."

He had finished packing and was getting himself off the ground since he had to kneel to be even with the table he had worked at. Valerie watched as he started to make his way towards the open window so that he could fly away.

"Wait."

Valerie felt her arm reach out for him.

"Please, don't go until my dad wakes up. Please, ghost boy, don't leave yet."

He turned around and smiled at her.

"Growing clingy, huh? Okay, I'll stay. But only if you call me by my name. Feel free to call me Danny. It's how everyone else in this town knows me."

He propped himself up against the wall in the bedroom and she sat on the floor facing him. Valerie felt so many questions flooding her mind as she sat there, but didn't think to ask one of them. She sat in silence, studying the ghost over for what felt like hours, his eyes giving off funny looks that made her feel like she was being a creep. Valerie finally decided to say something to him.

"Danny, I can't thank you enough for what you did today. But, I do enjoy our fights... wanna... keep doing them as friends?"

Danny smiled back at her.

"I enjoy them too. I would love to keep "fighting" as friends. And, you don't have to thank me for today. It's just kinda my thing ya know? I help people who need it, and you seemed to need my help at the time. But don't think this means I'll stop calling you names."

"I wouldn't want it any other way."

The two teenagers smiled at each other. Valerie felt her heart skip a beat as she thought to herself. Maybe Danny Phantom was right. Maybe not all ghosts were evil. After all, this ghost seemed to be pretty nice now that she had gotten to know him a little bit better than before.

"So... what exactly do you do as a ghost?"

"Oh, ya know... I float around and save people when they need it. I fight the evil ghosts and then mess around with friends once the evil guys are back in the Ghost Zone."

He seemed to shrug at the question, and Valerie looked at him in a confused manner. He seemed to call Amity Park home. She decided that it was alright for him to do that after so much time and effort put into keeping it safe. She recalled all the times that he had saved her butt, including that day.

"You're not half bad, Phantom."

"You're not too bad yourself, Grey."

She gasped as he knew her last name. How would he know that? Valerie listened to the silence between them for a moment as he smirked and gave off a look of achievement. Her mouth fell open to the thoughts of how he knew this much about her while they flooded her mind, and she couldn't get her jaw to close. Danny rolled his eyes and closed her mouth with a fist he had made out of his hand.

"Don't go swallowing any flies any time soon."

She chuckled at his quip while he smiled back at her. Valerie started to respond when they both shot their eyes in the same direction at an odd noise. Valerie watched her dad stirring in his sleep. It looked like he was waking up. Danny got up and brushed himself off before heading towards the window again.

"Well, that's my cue to leave. I'll fight later, and if you want we can talk."

He stuck half his body out the window before stopping himself and turning around with a surprised look on his face.

"Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you this. The combination of chemicals that Plasmius used will most likely make it so that your dad doesn't remember much. You may want to have something made up for him. Knowing the truth will probably scare the crap out of him. Catch ya on the flip side!"

And before Valerie could respond, Danny Phantom was gone.

"Won't remember anything huh? Let's see what I can do about that..."

Valerie ran to her dad's side and heard him croak for water. She grabbed a water bottle from beside his bed, and slowly gave him sips of water as he awoke. He shook his head a little bit to try and figure out what happened but remembered nothing.

"Valerie? What happened? Where am I?"

"Daddy, it's okay. You're at home in bed right now. You had a problem at work and got hit in the head by a small beam that had gotten loose from the rebuilding. You're okay now, I've been taking care of you. You were knocked out for a while, but you're better now."

She smiled sheepishly, ashamed of lying to her dad. But if it would keep him safe from her ghost expedition, then so be it. She saw her dad smile back at her as she sat on the side of his bed, still giving him water, and a few crackers that they had in the room in case he got hungry in the middle of the nights when he was home instead of guarding the labs he worked at.

"Valerie, what would you say to us going out for pizza tonight for dinner?"

Her dad almost jumped out of bed, already dressed, but his clothes in tatters. Valerie had to hold him down so that the blood that had been sitting in his head didn't rush to his body too quickly, making him light-headed and dizzy.

"I would love to go out to dinner with you, so long as you change clothes first."

She snickered at his outfit, deciding to tell him that it was from when he got hit by the beam at work. Thankfully for her, he believed every word she said. Slowly, Valerie walked to the window as her dad went to the bathroom to get cleaned up before they left for dinner. She saw a small green speck in the sky and smiled.

"Not all ghosts are evil."

Valerie quickly rushed to her room and grabbed her purse before her dad walked out the door without her. She considered all the things that had happened in the past few days, her mind wandering from whatever it was her dad was now talking about. If not all ghosts were evil, then maybe it would be better to partner up with the ghost boy instead of fighting with him. He seemed like somebody different when it came to ghosts like he was really good at telling the truth. She thought a bit longer before shaking her head. It was more fun fighting him. She would see how long their truce would last before they were no longer friends and were once again fighting as enemies, being jerks to each other just because they thought they hated each other

For all Valerie knew, the truce wouldn't last longer than a few days. She laughed at her last thought of the ghost boy before she went to bed that night since all she had her mind on was the time she was spending with her dad now that he was awake, thanks to the ghost boy. After all, not every ghost was evil.


End file.
